AUSTIN — The Texas Republican Party posted a series of tweets on Wednesday attacking U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke for not agreeing to participate in a debate against Sen. Ted Cruz on Friday.

The tweets used a photo of O'Rourke holding a skateboard at a recent campaign stop, a photo of the Democrat and his former punk-rock band, and a decades-old mugshot to show why O'Rourke might be "ducking debates" with Cruz.

Cruz and his challenger O'Rourke have been debating the finer points of their debate schedule since April, when O'Rourke challenged the incumbent to a series of six debates.

Cruz didn't acknowledge the challenge and months later issued his own invitation to O'Rourke that included five debates scheduled on specific dates in specific cities, including one in Dallas on Friday.

O'Rourke agreed to debate Cruz but requested that changes be made to the list of events, including moving some to weekdays instead of Friday nights.

O'Rourke on Monday said that Friday's debate "is not going to happen" and that his team is working with Cruz's campaign to schedule future events.

That statement didn't stop the Texas Republican Party from poking fun at O'Rourke on Twitter. In one tweet, they used an image of O'Rourke with a skateboard (which was used in a clip of him skateboarding in the Whataburger parking lot that spread online) with a text overlay: "Sorry, I'm going to have to skate on the debate Friday. I just got this killer board. I'm sure the voters won't mind."

So Beto has been ducking debates with Senator Ted Cruz. We can't imagine why, but we do have a few ideas... pic.twitter.com/3n2HtwY9pQ

The account also posted a mugshot of O'Rourke, alluding to his 1998 arrest for driving under the influence. The case was dismissed the following year after he completed a court-recommended DWI-program.

O'Rourke was also arrested in 1995 and charged with burglary, after he and a few friends climbed under the fence of a building on UTEP's campus and triggered an alarm system. The charges were later dropped.

There's always the chance that Robert “Beto” O’Rourke won’t debate Senator Cruz because he got into a hazy situation... pic.twitter.com/4nmd42AEkl

The posts generated thousands of responses, many from the Democrat's supporters who used a heavy dose of sarcasm in their replies.

Several users replied to the tweet with mug shots of Republican leaders, including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is facing fraud charges he adamantly denies, former U.S. House Republican Leader Tom DeLay, whose money-laundering conviction was overturned on appeal, and a few others.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who won a shocking victory over U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley in New York's primary election and considers herself a Democratic Socialist, also took to Twitter to defend O'Rourke.

"Why is the GOP so corny?" she wrote. "You can front a band and run for office. You can pierce your nose, be a bartender, a teacher, a stay at home parent; wear a dress or rip your jeans — none of this disqualifies you from advancing the fight for healthcare, education, housing, and justice."

She called the Texas GOP "empty handed" for wading into "personal nonsense" in its critique of O'Rourke.

"More imperfect people need to run for office," she wrote. "We need to eliminate the idea of “perfect” candidates - there’s no such thing," she continued. "What matters are your values and the platform you’re fighting for."

Definitely don't want to vote for this cool guy who did fun stuff and had friends.

"Based on the reaction to our tweets we can confirm that Beto is in fact going to receive 100% of the vote from Buzzfeed contributors, out of state liberals, and people who use the word 'rad'," read a tweet. "We feel very owned :'("

Based on the reaction to our tweets we can confirm that Beto is in fact going to receive 100% of the vote from Buzzfeed contributors, out of state liberals, and people who use the word "rad." We feel very owned :'(